The Akosombo Textiles Limited, or ATL, may regain its old days of glory!
Substantiating on this further, John Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen, Minister of Industry and Trade, said in Parliament that ATL is not at the risk of facing total collapse.
He said the Government was initiating efforts to bring back the good glorious days for Ghana’s textile sector as a veritable source of employment for the people in the Asuogyaman and surrounding communities.
He was responding to a question raised in the Parliament on whether the Government was doing something to save ATL from total collapse. He said that a cabinet decision last year that approved the ministry to revamp the operations of the firm under a transitional agreement was reaping rich dividends.
Besides, he added, there are efforts to look for a strategic investor to help change the fortunes of the company.
That arrangement led to injection of GH¢17 million into the firm’s operations at a subsidised interest rate by the Prudential Bank Limited, in addition to implementing a comprehensive stimulus package. He added “As a result of this timely intervention, the company upgraded its machinery, identified new export markets and improved it overall operational efficiency.”
Also critical machines for textile production that are old and obsolete were replaced in March 2019 with state-of the-art machines. The Minister said that by September 2019, ATL will install new and efficient biomass boilers that would reduce energy costs of the factory by 50 per cent.
Some other measures approved by cabinet to support local textile industries are as follows:
- Introduction of tax stamps for locally manufactured and imported textiles to address the problem of pirated and smuggled imported textile products
- Designation of Tema Port as the single entry corridor for imported textiles products
- Implementation of Textile Import Management System to improve the coordination of the textiles trade (including vetting of designs and logos).
